


Circle of Friends

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Falling for You [16]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, Friendship, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-02
Updated: 2013-04-02
Packaged: 2017-12-07 07:44:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/746037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“But doesn’t the loss of one sense make the other ones better?  So do you have like supersonic hearing and stuff?  And you can use the echolocation thingamabob to feel the ball coming at you.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Circle of Friends

**Author's Note:**

> All the kids in the story have been featured in past episodes of Criminal Minds.

“Oh my God, he really proposed?” Cate asked as they pulled out their chairs and sat down in the crowded lunchroom.

“Yeah.” Stanley nodded.

“He like really, really proposed?”

“I saw the ring and everything. Well, you know what I mean.”

“Was it awesome?” Cate asked.

“It was beautiful. There were lots of diamonds and my mom couldn’t stop smiling. She was glowing…that’s what Detective John said.”

“That’s so wicked awesome, Stanley; so cool. Hey, what kind of sandwich do you have?”

“Um,” Stanley opened his blue vinyl lunch bag, which was covered in dinosaur stickers. He grabbed the sandwich bag and opened it. “It’s tuna. What do you have?”

“Bologna and cheese.” Cate was disappointed. “You wanna trade?”

“Does it have mustard instead of mayonnaise?”

“Yep.”

“OK.”

The two kids switched sandwiches. Stanley wasn’t a big fan of tuna anyway. By the can it was cheaper than lunchmeat so he found it in his lunch bag at least once a week. Good thing that there was a pretty good barter system in the lunchroom of Nicholas Gilman Primary-Middle School. Stanley rarely ate it.

“What else do you have?” Cate asked, taking a bite out of the sandwich.

“This is probably chocolate pudding.” Stanley felt inside his bag and pulled out the container. He put it on the table. “I got some carrot sticks and um....” he held up a juice box. “What kind of juice is this?”

“It's Cherry Juicy Juice. That’s the good stuff.”

“I'm keeping that.”

“So do you think that your mom and Detective John do it a lot?” Cate asked. She poked her straw in her Kool Aid Kooler.

“Do what?” Stanley asked.

“ _It_ , Stanley; _it_ it?”

“Eww, I don't know.” He made a face. Doing it was one of the last things on his mind. Now, it was his luck, he wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about it.

“I bet they do. He’s at your house a lot and your mom goes to his place sometimes. Adults in love are always doing it. You’ve never heard noises or anything? I saw a rated R movie once and there are noises.”

“The bathroom is next to my room.” Stanley replied. “I don’t hear things in my mom’s room.”

“But he’s stayed overnight, right?” Cate asked.

“Yeah, but don’t tell anyone. I don’t want the other adults saying bad stuff about my mom.”

“Oh no way Stanley, I wouldn’t blabber about that stuff. Your secrets are totally safe with me, I promise.”

“OK. What rated R movie did you see?” he asked.

“Well I didn’t see the whole thing. My dad caught me and sent me upstairs. But adults make noises…trust me.”

“I believe you.”

“Anyhoo, they're totally doing it now even if they weren't before. Go Miss Wolcott!”

“Detective John makes her happy. She would try to hide it from me before, when she was sad and lonely. Now she doesn’t have to do that.”

“This is really good news. I hope they got married soon so you can have a dad.”

“That’s gonna be the best part.” Stanley smiled. “Detective John will be the most awesome dad ever. We’ll go to museums, watch nature shows, and he’ll probably teach me to fish. Plus I just know he’ll convince my mom to let me get a bike. Maybe I’ll get it for my birthday.”

“I'm definitely going to cross my fingers about the bike.”

“What up weasels?” Ellie Spicer came over to the table with Wally Brisbane. 

The small, quiet boy said hello. There wasn’t much small or quiet about Ellie. She was boisterous and loved to talk. She’d go toe to toe with anyone if it came to that. Ellie feared nothing and loved life. 

She also loved Stephen King novels, which her father thought she was too young to read, and British modern rock music. She and Cate had been friends since nursery school. Ellie took Wally under her wing in third grade. People always picked on him because he was small for his age and sang solo in the church choir. 

Stanley was the new kid in the group. He and Ellie were getting to know each other and he liked her. She didn’t seem to care that he was blind. Half the time she would forget and say ‘check this out Wolcott’ before shoving a book or magazine in his face. 

Then she’d get sheepish and describe the cool thing to him or read the passage. So far, Ellie’s life goals were to meet Morrissey, write a kickass book, and learn to ride a motorcycle. Stanley thought if anyone could do those things, she could. Her father, Detective Matt Spicer, worked at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department with John.

“Detective John is gonna marry Stanley’s mom.” Cate said.

“For real? That’s good news, Wolcott.” Ellie smiled as she popped open her gunmetal gray lunch pail. It looked like the one old time construction workers carried.

“Thanks.”

“I have some good news too. Guess who’s going to see Morrissey for her birthday in April?”

“Morrissey is coming to Newberry?” Stanley asked.

“No way Jose. He's gonna be in Boston and my mom got us tickets. This might be the best birthday of my whole, entire life.”

“I thought your dad didn’t like that music.” Wally said. He had a PB and J sandwich that he wasn’t looking to trade.

“No one invited him to the concert.” Ellie smirked. She skipped over her sandwich, which was some kind of lunchmeat, and went straight to her fruit salad. “My mom and I always do cool stuff when I go to Boston. She feels guilty because I'm from a broken home and all.”

“You think your dad might ever get married again?” Stanley asked.

“Oh God, I hope not.” Ellie rolled her eyes. “I’d rather have a boil on my butt than a stepmom. There was a rumor a few months back that he might be secretly dating your assistant lady though.”

“Do you mean Amanda?”

“Yep. I heard some teachers talking about it in the library. She's young and pretty so go Dad. I still don’t want a stepmom though. One mom is complicated enough. Who’s in for dodgeball at recess? It promises to be a lesson in organized chaos.”

“Count me out.” Wally shook his head. He’d probably go to the library; it was the safest place in the building. The schoolyard was like _Lord of the Flies_. Wally much preferred to read that stuff in books than to be smack in the middle. He’d be one of the first kids to bite it.

“What about you, Wolls?” Ellie held out her salad for Cate, who took a piece of honeydew.

“I'm blind, remember?”

“I actually did remember this time. But doesn’t the loss of one sense make the other ones better? So do you have like supersonic hearing and stuff? And you can use the echolocation thingamabob to feel the ball coming at you.”

“The only thing I’ll feel is that ball beaning me in the head.” Stanley said laughing. “That’s OK.”

“Well I'm in.” Cate said grinning.

“Aww yeah.” Ellie gave her a high five. “Cate Hale, ladies and gentlemen, known in official dodgeball circles as the Newberry Nighthawk.”

“Hold your applause.” Cate waved like Miss America.

“You sure you don’t wanna give it a go, Wolls?” Ellie asked. “One time I knocked out Jeffrey Charles and he had to go to the ER.”

“No thanks, but that would've been awesome to see.” Stanley smiled.

“It was pretty awesome.” Wally grinned.

Jeffrey Charles was one of Wally’s tormentors. He hadn't been nice to Stanley either, or anyone he ever encountered. He liked to trip Stanley on the way to class or in the playground. There was no use avoiding a kid like that…he’d come and find you if he had to.

“I think I’ll just play war with Bobby and those guys.” Stanley said. “It’s slightly less detrimental to my health.”

“Slightly.” Cate said. “Are you sure you’re going to eat that pudding, Stanley?”

“I'm pretty sure.”

“You can have my sandwich.” Ellie slid it over.

“What kind is it?” Cate asked.

“I dunno.” She shrugged. “Lunchmeat.”

“I’ll take it.”

There was only about 10 minutes of lunch left and then recess. For most kids it was the best part of the school day. It wasn’t that Stanley didn’t like it but things could get rough out there. He rarely sat it out; the world was filled with people. If he was going to survive in the world then he had to make it on the schoolyard. Luckily he had some good friends to help him along.

***


End file.
